ALERT: This Week’s Instagram Hack May Have Affected YOU

Be safe out there

This week, the internet saw Instagram announce that it had been the target of a massive hack, caused by a bug that was in an Instagram API that exposed some user’s contact details.

The hack saw SelenaGomez’s account taken control of, where hackers posted nude photos of her ex JustinBieber.

Until now, it had been believed that only ‘high-profile’ verified accounts like Selena’s had been affected, but it turns out that the breach extended even further.

A representative from the company has released a statement, saying, “After additional analysis, we have determined that this issue potentially impacted some non-verified accounts as well. Although we cannot determine which specific accounts may have been impacted, we believe it was a low percentage of Instagram accounts.”

Even if there is only a small percentage of users affected, considering there are 700 million active accounts there’s still going to be a huge number of people affected.

Overnight, co-founder and Chief Technology officer MikeKrieger said on the company’s official blog that people’s phone numbers and email addresses may have been revealed to hackers, but other user activities and their passwords were not.

"Out of an abundance of caution, we encourage you to be vigilant about the security of your account, and exercise caution if you observe any suspicious activity such as unrecognized incoming calls, texts, or emails. Additionally, we’re encouraging you to report any unusual activity through our reporting tools. You can access those tools by tapping the “…” menu from your profile, selecting “Report a Problem” and then “Spam or Abuse.”